Mouse Raycasting - Tower Defense Tutorial #5

This episode lays the groundwork ready for us to start working on our tower placement. In this episode we learn how to detect the position of the mouse, create a ray, detect what it hits and paint the town red!
DISCORD ► / discord
TWITTER ►@gnomecodeRBLX
TIMESTAMPS►
0:00 Intro
0:30 Detecting the mouse position
3:50 Getting mouse ray
6:00 Making raycasts
8:06 Using RunService
10:35 Interacting on click
14:30 Outro

[@foolspark]

I'm only a couple of episodes into this series and this is honestly amazing. I've seen so many roblox scripting tutorial youtubers try and do game development series like these, but never manage to execute it as well as you do. You go really into depth and explain thoroughly whenever you try to teach something, instead of just giving us the code, and telling us to copy it down.

[@TrollMonster24]

Here's the script so you don't have to do it all and get stressed because you get an error! GameController: local RunService = game:GetService("RunService") local UserInputService = game:GetService("UserInputService") local camera = workspace.CurrentCamera local item = nil local function MouseRaycast() local mousePosition = UserInputService:GetMouseLocation() --print(mousePosition) local mouseRay = camera:ViewportPointToRay(mousePosition.X, mousePosition.Y) --print(mouseRay) local raycastResult = workspace:Raycast(mouseRay.Origin, mouseRay.Direction * 1000) --print(raycastResult) return raycastResult end UserInputService.InputBegan:Connect(function(input, processed) if processed then return end if input.UserInputType == Enum.UserInputType.MouseButton1 then if item:IsA("BasePart") then item.Color = Color3.new(1, 0, 0) end end end) RunService.RenderStepped:Connect(function() local result = MouseRaycast() if result and result.Instance then item = result.Instance end end)

[@Ego_to_ID]

god bless you

[@TrollMonster24]

@@Ego_to_ID You're welcome.

[@ouren3220]

TYSM it saved a lot of time i think

[@bowmin1]

I wouldn't just copy and paste this. I would advise trying to understand it and write it yourself. You aren't learning if you just paste it, and if you don't understand it you can't make updates and changes in the future.

[@smelly6982]

w rizz

[@Norrday]

FINALLY YES I'VE BEEN WAITING THANK YOU FOR MAKING THESE TUTORIALS SO MUCH!

[@Pyr0Blox1]

Can we all agree that these tower defense stuff get better and better the more we watch them

[@ekto3687]

@Cayden lee Cox yep probably

[@yesimdre]

eye candy

[@hetzo6718]

Yessir

[@TheLogster96]

Ya

[@mobileobbygod2589]

I do

[@PineBloxx]

Merry Christmas Gnome! Well done for this year and best of luck for the next!

[@HoopsTheBee]

Geez man! You really banging these out. Love it!

[@morelakritssnovit4295]

love ur vids

[@robloxiansexclusive1781]

didnt expect you here at all hoops, i love your channel!

[@pissheater3k]

BEE SWARM MAN!?

[@murganes3107]

Thank you gnome, your tutorials are sooo amazing!!! Please keep up the great work!

[@Pap3rf0ld]

The Mouse Raycast Script is here: local RunService = game:GetService("RunService") local UserInputService = game:GetService("UserInputService") local Camera = workspace.CurrentCamera local Item = nil local function MouseRaycast() --[ONLY ENABLE THE PRINT FUNCTION TO GET RESULTS OF MOUSE LOCATION]-- local MousePosition = UserInputService:GetMouseLocation() --print(mousePosition) local MouseRay =Camera:ViewportPointToRay(MousePosition.X, MousePosition.Y) --print(mouseRay) local RaycastResult = workspace:Raycast(MouseRay.Origin, MouseRay.Direction * 100) --print(raycastResult) return RaycastResult end UserInputService.InputBegan:Connect(function(input, processed) if processed then return end if input.UserInputType == Enum.UserInputType.MouseButton1 then if Item:IsA("Basepart") then Item.Color = Color3.new(255, 0, 0) end end end) RunService.RenderStepped:Connect(function() local result = MouseRaycast() if result and result.Instance then Item = result.Instance end end) If the part doesn't change color, change Basepart into Part and it should work. Hope I was of any help. :)

[@MrCookie_official.]

what does the like on the print

[@JohnGaming756]

thanks bro i was struggling cus of an error which it said: "attempted to index nil with "GetMouseLocation""

[@RobbyTheBall]

you dont need to change Basepart to Part you need to change Basepart to "BasePart" BasePart with an uppercased P

[@Pap3rf0ld]

@@RobbyTheBall The roblox studio concept changes in further updates so it might be different between other people

[@sledgerfrost5181]

we gotta make this top comment

[@mrflovs754]

the outro is the best thing i've seen all week

[@UltimanteTheCool]

I like how he doesnt just create tutorials and tell you how do do things... he teaches you as well and shows you common mistakes people do. thats awesome

[@snowtotoy9177]

thats what tutorials are they teach you

[@NeonLabsss]

yeah it's great I'm following the series to learn and test my scripting

[@d00mprod]

It's great when the SAME PERSON (Or should I say bot) COMMENTS THE SAME MESSAGE

[@accid_ttv3699]

Finaly another episode that i can spend 5 hours to do what he did in 15 minutes

[@Dashing_Geometry]

true

[@masondoesxd]

what? it takes like 30 mins to follow his tutorials unlike any other ones that actually take 5 hours...

[@wllow.]

it takes me 14 minutes 👀

[@pixelatedluisyt]

you’re complaining about that instead of commenting something like “your teaching me a lot, love the tutorials”

[@universlion]

8:48

[@jamesclack882]

Thank you this is an amazing tutorial this is the first GOOD one i have found in ages

[@akiprox7]

Tysm man! Best TD series ever!

[@sliceggjd]

This is just one word "AMAZING!"

[@BrenFirely]

Finally someone do tower defense tutorial which I wanna learn from a long time😥 thank u!!!

[@BBTProductionsArchive]

Amazing tutorials! With this new feature, I'm wondering if we could do stuff like level up towers, view range, etc. looking forward to seeing where this tutorial goes. :)

[@jigglyjosh5047]

with this in hand, we could use this to when we hover over an enemy it can display their health, as well as towers, we can see their level, range etc. This series is very helpful!

[@LeoKhol]

you can use mouse.Target tho

[@wallop560]

@@LeoKhol thats what i was saying LMAO

[@inactive3772]

@@LeoKhol mouse is superseded

[@pepperdayjackpac4521]

@@inactive3772 but it’s not deprecated

[@inactive3772]

@@pepperdayjackpac4521 its recommended to use other methods

[@Wazzalish]

I love how you make tutorials from scratch instead of a “Kit”.

[@Axium3]

oh my gosh you are right. ive tried to make a fighting game but every tutorial said to use so many scripts

[@WearWQLF]

I bet you at the end of this tutorial 75k subscribers good work gnomecode

[@GamingCadeez]

Wow! This is amazing!

[@clapanimates]

I’ve always wanted to make a td game ever since below natural made one and now I can because you are making this!

[@reddeadleisure]

0

[@ICEDSummer]

YO LETS GO THANKS FOR THE TUTORIAL

[@Dusty2763]

the best tutorial KZbinr ever

[@jhkz]

That's so simple to understand, thank u bro ;)

[@GnomeCode]

Always great to hear, thank you!

[@jinxed-truly]

thx for the tutorial i love this series!

[@Jokubasas]

The code worked for you? Because mine doesnt

[@jinxed-truly]

@@Jokubasas it certainly does, did you double-check that your code is exactly the same as gnomecode's?

[@Jokubasas]

@@jinxed-truly i did it a lot of times i even changed the BasePart into Part and none worked

[@blockyee]

This is amazing your so underrated

[@MrSpace5260]

i will probably never be abled to make a game like that but its fun to watch you make one ngl

[@TopDuck521]

thank you gnome ur the best

[@sodiumchloride8886]

YESS PART 5!!!!!

[@Dafusionplays]

When is episode 6 coming out? I’ve always wanted to make a tds game for years but here it is!! Thanks so much GnomeCode!!

[@baconlol3716]

maybe

[@pixelatedluisyt]

2 days least probably 5 days max

[@Zane-Satoru]

bro it came out 3 hours ago dont rush

[@akiprox7]

Amazing! Thank you!

[@PeaKanin]

i tried once... but failed. thanks for helping me see the light! you're the best!

[@Dhfhdjhfjnd]

I don’t understand very much of this but I still love watching it

[@GnomeCode]

Thanks for dropping by. I know some of the things shown here are a little advanced bit if you're looking to get into scripting I'd recommend Che king out my beginner series on making your first game

[@dog_mco2701]

ik u upload next video fast but i want them faster i cant wait to complete my game thanks so much for helping me

[@aaronmclemore3368]

Hey gnome I have a question could u show a tutorial on how to make a map voting system and when the map gets the higher votes it teleports u to that map with a timer when the game is done and a intermission so u can be ready to select that map

[@alskopim]

You literally showed me all the things i needed to know, that other youtubers barely could make a tutorial on!

[@GnomeCode]

You're welcome, best of luck with your project!

[@alskopim]

@@GnomeCode Thanks!

[@TheTomatoo]

Hello, GnomeCode! Can I use Player:GetMouse() instead of mouse raycasting ?

[@minuscat666]

i aint gnome but- no

[@chrisk5397]

im making a case game where you can build with a hammer and needed to get something to help me out, this was the perfect video 10/10

[@Arli24]

local RunService = game:GetService("RunService") local UserInputService = game:GetService("UserInputService") local camera = workspace.CurrentCamera local function MouseRaycast() local mousePosition = UserInputService:GetMouseLocation() print(mousePosition) local mouseRay = camera:ViewportPointToRay(mousePosition.X, mousePosition.Y) print(mouseRay) local raycastResult = workspace.Raycast(mouseRay.Origin, mouseRay.Direction * 1000) print(raycastResult) return raycastResult end UserInputService.InputBegan:Connect(function(input, processed) if processed then return end if input.UserInputType == Enum.UserInputType.MouseButton1 then if item:IsA("BasePart")then item.Color = Color3.new(1,0,0) end end end) RunService.RenderStepped:Connect(function() local result = MouseRaycast() if result and result.Instance then print(result.Instance.Name) end end)

[@BucketBloxxer]

Im not even gonna use this. But im watching it for fun (: keep up the Good work Gnomecode!

[@GnomeCode]

Thanks, will do!

[@timelinxgames]

Hey gnomecode. will you add different modes and a lobby and music that plays when the boss is there? Please reply ♥

[@skaiomg]

A bit late, but congrats on 3 years gnome! :D

[@GnomeCode]

Thank you!

[@skaiomg]

@@GnomeCode No problem! I love your content!

[@EggVrGtag]

keep up the Good Work 1 thing tho soon can u teach us how to make units like jeeps and so that the dev can spawn enemys with admin cmds pls

[@Wazzalish]

Will we get to make difficulty buttons before round 1 starts? Like Easy, Normal, Hard modes?

[@NikolasH123]

i thought you were making a tower defence not a paintball :D jk, really appritiate this tutorial, im not even making a towr defence, i watched this on random and it really helped me with my game, thnaks

[@theblaze89miller]

love this, hope to see part 6, cant wait to brag to my friends i made a tower defense game from scratch

[@reudu]

you should not brag it will come back to you

[@Wertyhappy27]

Following a tutorial isn't from scratch

[@Crazy4Beyonce]

Copy scripts isn’t from scratch

[@GnomeCode]

Best of luck with your game!

[@theblaze89miller]

@@Wertyhappy27 what i mean is i didnt used that many free models

[@gracetaylor7556]

thanks gnomecode!! someone in ur discord helped me btw

[@ambarkegamer4528]

Ths is so cool I'm excited if you end of crate the map

[@kplinger]

based off of the beginning, you added a local script. does that mean that the game is gonna be solo/singleplayer? because you can only see the towers (by assumption, i havent continued the video)

[@catdoor3676]

Oh nice

[@xevior1319]

Hey gnome, can you make a part 6 where you can get different towers? If you could, that would help alot, thanks!

[@fireplayz8268]

Hey question on episode #4 the mobs didnt walk anymore and u wil be able to see that on ur screen how did u fix these?

[@dontpinme9321]

hey gnomecode, the OnPlayerAdded local script from last video isn't working for me (the animation script). I uploaded the animations myself and I own them. Whenever a mob is spawned, it gives an error " attempt to call a nil value"

[@hamunja]

hey GnomeCode! this video helped me alot but i cant seem to find a work around with a bug -.-" on realistic 1st person a headcam is inserted onto the player and made the subject but since its there on first person, the mouse ray detects only the headcam and not the otherparts

[@Kreanmid]

I know i am a little late but was wondering what was happening because in the last video at the output it had it going every second but in this video i saw a 30 second gap between the waves is there a way I can fix this?

[@zoop08_]

May you do a reverse path tutorial for humvees or things that come from exit

[@DarkiesMusic]

For the people that are stuck with the blacklist being deprecated this is the updated script form line 11 to 22: local function MouseRaycast(InstancesToIgnore) local mousePosition = UserInputService:GetMouseLocation() local mouseRay = camera:ViewportPointToRay(mousePosition.X, mousePosition.Y) local raycastParams = RaycastParams.new() raycastParams.FilterType = Enum.RaycastFilterType.Exclude raycastParams.FilterDescendantsInstances = {workspace.Towers} local raycastResult = workspace:Raycast(mouseRay.Origin, mouseRay.Direction * 1000, raycastParams) return raycastResult end

[@triducal]

im assuming you will be able to place rhe tower anywhere in the ground and not in a grid-lock?

[@noob9215]

How long do you think this series will be?

[@OAUTN]

One thing: To make a TD game like TDS, you need to get a lobby with elevators teleporting you to the main game, telling you which wave your on, intermission for placing towers, and spaced out enemies.

[@tomfooIeryz]

yeah duh almost every TD game has that

[@THE_HONORED_ONE350]

Finnaly

[@KielRussee]

You know you're doing everything right when you colored the whole map in the color

[@XedricPlays]

yes thank you!

[@clappingtoday7167]

this is literally what I’ve been looking for

[@Somftix]

Thanks 😊

[@SRTdowned]

Wooo made it to #5

[@hampster0853]

i WATCHED YOU OTHER VIDEO THERE AMAZING :OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@Silver_Rice_Studios]

How would I be able to use something similar to this to see if the players mouse is within a certain distance of a different players character that is on screen? I am trying to make an ability that you have to aim, but not super accurately.

[@noobynate_4955]

Is there a way to change their targetting to not be the closest? (ex: first instead)

[@mrlollypopfan2mrlollypop880]

NOICE vid

[@Gumbibull]

just keeps getting betterawwerrwe

[@robloxplayz5014]

Bro u gonna make me best tower defence simulator game

[@monke_744]

my computer died from your great knowledge

[@drowsycosmic4854]

What's your philosophy behind naming your variables? Which variables do you name using PascalCase, camelCase, snake case, etc. Also keep up the great content always look forward to your next video!

[@GnomeCode]

Good question. I always name services in PascalCase using their full name, then generally use camelCase for all other variables

[@mageninjaballer1449]

@@GnomeCode what the difference??????

[@drowsycosmic4854]

@@GnomeCode Thank you so much

[@entityofanimations3952]

@@GnomeCode GnomeCode everything is working but the raycasting doesn't work for mobile does anyone know a way to make it work on mobile also?

[@Norrday]

@@entityofanimations3952 he said in the video it won't work on mobile.

[@sleepingcat7278]

Hey u will do a video of how to make towers that can spawn things from the end to the start like a car and damage the enemies

[@celix4741]

YES

[@kam7822]

I was having a ton of trouble with unions not changing colour and bam 14:08 he just solves it XD

[@sebobebo10]

This series is actually really helpful, I do have one question about line of sight. So basically, if there was a tower placed in the middle of the map and there was terrain between the tower and the enemy, the tower cannot shoot the enemy. So how would that be scripted

[@GnomeCode]

You could use raycasting for that if you wanted, though I don't think many games use line of sight for there towers. After all, it's more of an 'arcade' type game

[@charlenebell7026]

I don’t know how many parts he has anyway

[@iiRazix]

Can u do a matchmaking - lobby please and thanks for your tutorial !

[@theofficialjorden226]

Will you do things like a shop, unlocking towers with levels, tower upgrades, and animations, certain places where towers can be placed, or enemies attacking towers and cool stuff like that, or some of the basic stuff like things from Bloons TD? Either way, it's helping people who don't know much about scripting create a tower defense game

[@sournois90]

That's the problem. IMO people who are new to scripting should start with much simpler projects in which don't make you just copy scripts, like 89% are doing. I wish every person in the comments would know that you won't learn or make a good game if you ALWAYS use other's stuff and pollute the comment section with "Hi WiLl yOu mAkE a flYIng rObOT That SHooTs Cars?? Btw I'M haVinG proBLEms with The ScRipT i litEraLLy juSt CopIeD fRom YOu!!!1 whIch meAns tHe TuToRIAl wON't WoRK and it'S YOuR faULt!!!!1 "

[@lambarini]

@@sournois90 true but at the same time no. I learned ALOT from tutorials and now I can code stuff but nothing crazy. The problem with people is that they just copy and don't look into it.

[@sournois90]

@@lambarini yes, that's what i meant. i was referring to people that always ask for others to make stuff for you, without even trying anything. i had a friend like this and thankfully i didn't make anything for him. i also learned from "how to make a game" tutorials but their comment sections are filled with people that think scripting is just copying from a tutorial, which almost always end up in them saying "tutorial doesn't work". sure copying some stuff is ok who doesn't do it but it's like you said, they don't look into it and have absolutely no idea what they're doing my biggest problem with doing gigantic projects is that i tried to make one when i didn't know anything and i almost gave up forever, and i don't really want that to happen to other people... it sucks

[@Crazy4Beyonce]

Are u trying make a TDS game without know how script? The idea of these videos are learn and make urself, not copy and waiting for the next episode lol

[@theofficialjorden226]

@@Crazy4Beyonce no, I know how to script and I'm not making a tower defense I'm making a platformer game

[@PFearr]

Nice

[@maxielius8544]

Merry christmas everyone god bless us all

[@neutralizedadd3990]

2:23 I learned that not putting a wait is a bad idea the hard way lol

[@ProIsEpic]

jeez, must have did the poor gpu a burden

[@Tiny_bigninja]

@@ProIsEpicnah the script just ends now (luckily)

[@Ryan_Tse]

YAY

[@DaWaffleman]

Should I just disable first person, because it doesn't work in first person at least for me? But that was a really good video, good job!

[@janmorenob1615]

Gnome, please do this in episode 5: Make inventory system of towers Animations of tower (shooting, idle) ofc Saving system Lobby Special abilities of towers

[@theblaze89miller]

this is episode 5

[@Norrday]

too much for one episode.

[@beniciogames4953]

Its basically one of those per ep but its too soon for that

[@lukiValent]

idle animations for towers is just add a random animate script that loops forever

[@DaWaffleman]

This episode is episode 5...

[@pixelatedluisyt]

yes i knew it came today this is gonna be great Oh also fun fact all episodes put together (so far) are 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 28 seconds long

[@GnomeCode]

Much better broken down into individual episodes!

[@pixelatedluisyt]

@@GnomeCode yep

[@ricepizza7881]

Uh hi gnome. Do you know why it says there is no results when I type in the toolbox for models. Pleas someone help

[@huttle]

perfectly timed just finsished #4!!

[@Misteramen]

Additional towers and their repsective abilities and specialities (e.g AOE) should be a thing for the next episode(s)

[@codingidiot6754]

how would you shoot a raycast to the mouseray hit position?

[@BlendaCat]

Hey Gnome, I highly doubt you will see this comment, but the tower doesn't fly to my camera for me. Do you have any idea on how to fix that?

[@totallyoofify5319]

Is there a way to make hidden enemies that you need to upgrade your tower to kill

[@chasesheridan3109]

When i did the part where it would print what material the mouse is touching, it broke to only say i was touching the baseplate

[@justygaming0]

How do i make models without the humanoid part move around the track?

[@imnotsureman1093]

Gnome, I have a question Can you release the finished product after all of the tutorials as a game lol

[@GnomeCode]

Sure, I'll make it open source too

[@ItsFinaleee]

you should get to 100K subs

[@Trohten2Roblox]

Nice but wait if actually we use world raycast to the last checkpoint to the before last checkpoint for see if zombie, if not then we world raycast again to the before last checkpoint and if not zombie we continue right to the start and if result then we check if it s an enemy and if yes then we found the 1 enemy Tada, sorry for the long text x)

[@fartmoney4044]

very good going to do this episode later my tower defense game is forming because of this series

[@Funguyfights]

Done eith this video reminder